Nonverbal Communication
by Khentkawes
Summary: Episode tag for The Fifth Race. After Jack’s experience with the Ancient download, the team meets for breakfast. Jack and Daniel talk...sort of.


Non-Verbal Communication

Summary: Episode tag for The Fifth Race. After Jack's experience with the Ancient download, the team meets for breakfast. Jack and Daniel talk … sort of.

Notes: Jack and Daniel friendship, courtesy of an old, classic episode. Oh, and Teal'c's joke is borrowed from an old Star Trek episode. What can I say, it just seemed to fit.

This piece is mostly fluff, but I hope you enjoy. Let me know if it's funny.

* * *

"Hey!" Jack O'Neill strode into Daniel Jackson's office on Monday morning looking like a man on a mission. "What do you think you're doin'?"

"Well, I was just…" Daniel waved a hand towards some artifact that sat on his desk.

"Ah!" Jack raised one finger to stop him. "And…?"

Daniel looked at him helplessly for a moment, shrugging his shoulders slightly. Jack pointed to the calendar on the wall and Daniel turned to follow his gaze, staring helplessly at the calendar until understanding dawned. "Oh," he said quietly.

Jack nodded and gestured toward the door, waving an arm to indicate that Daniel should follow. Daniel ducked his head slightly before trailing along. When they reached the commissary, they each gathered up a tray of food and moved to sit with their teammates who were already eating their breakfast at SG-1's customary table in the corner. It was a team ritual that the four of them had breakfast together every Monday morning.

"Good morning, sir," Sam said with a smile. "I was just wondering where you guys were."

"Oh, you know, here and there. The usual."

"Yes, sir." Sam seemed to be suppressing a giggle. Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow. "So, sir, how are you feeling?"

Jack looked up incredulously. "Well I haven't started speaking any strange languages lately…"

"At least not any stranger than normal," Daniel broke in. Jack glared at him and raised a hand as if he was about to cuff Daniel on the back of the head, but his friend chose that moment to hold up the glazed donut that had been sitting on his plate. Jack snatched the offering from Daniel's fingers and took a bite before turning back to Carter.

"Anyway, Doc Fraiser says that I'm right as rain. As of this morning, SG-1 is officially back on active duty. I haven't heard from Hammond yet, but he's probably got our next mission lined up already."

"Yes sir. He, uh, sent out a memo informing us of our next mission. The debriefing is at oh-eight-hundred."

Jack looked at his teammates. Daniel merely nodded. Sam looked down at her food and began carefully cutting her pancakes. Jack looked at Teal'c skeptically.

"We do indeed have a mission scheduled, O'Neill."

"Why am I the last one to know about this?"

"You should try checking your e-mail, Jack," Daniel said, earning another glare.

Jack huffed. "Yeah, well, I try not to do any _work_ on my weekend off. Unlike _some_ people I know."

Both scientists avoided his gaze.

"O'Neill, I believe both CaptainCarter and DanielJackson have been igniting the nighttime petroleum."

Daniel nearly choked on his coffee and Sam snickered a bit. Jack stared. "Was that another joke? You know, like that 'undomesticated equines' comment?" Teal'c remained unreadable. Jack merely shrugged. "So, what made you kids 'ignite the midnight petroleum' this time?" Jack said as he turned to the two scientists.

"Well, actually sir, it's kind of your fault."

"My fault? Do tell."

"I've spent nearly two days trying to figure out how you reprogrammed the dialing computer. Sir, you completely rewrote the algorithms that recalculate Stargate addresses to compensate for planetary drift. The new code you programmed into the computer delivers more accurate measurements of planetary shift, and calculates the new locations more than ten times faster than the old program. Frankly, sir, I have no idea how you did it."

Jack gave her a blank look, then turned to Daniel with a raised eyebrow. For a moment the two seemed to be engaged in a stare down before Daniel gave in and answered Jack's unspoken question.

"For the record, I did go home over the weekend," he began. Jack looked skeptical.

"I believe, DanielJackson, that a weekend is comprised of two consecutive days, whereas you were only gone from this facility for one day."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Teal'c." Jack's questioning expression hadn't changed. Daniel sighed as he began to explain. "Well, based on what I learned from you about the Ancients' language, I tried to go back and work on some of the writing that we found on Ernest's planet. Until now I didn't know anything about the language, but you gave me a frame of reference for the correct pronunciation, and it appears to be a root language for Medieval Latin, so I should be able to…"

"And?" Jack cut him off.

"And even with everything I've learned, I'm still a long way from being able to translate it with any amount of accuracy." Daniel shrugged as he looked down at his half-eaten breakfast. "At least it's a start."

"So, no…" Jack trailed off, waving a hand in the air.

"Nope."

"Drat." He pointed his spoon at Daniel. "Not even a forwarding address…"

"Jack if they'd left any indication of where they went, I think the Asgard would have found it by now, and according to you, the Asgard aren't in contact with the Ancients anymore."

"Yeah, I know. I was just hoping…"

"Well, unless you…"

"Nope," Jack replied quickly. "I told you. Don't remember a thing."

"Then, no, nothing of immediate value."

Sam and Teal'c exchanged amused glances throughout this exchange, but refrained from commenting.

"If you'll excuse me, sir, I need to go check on the gate diagnostic before the briefing," Sam stood to leave. "We're still trying to figure out how you managed to dial an address with eight chevrons."

"Knock yourself out, Carter. I certainly can't explain it," Jack said as Teal'c moved to follow her.

"I will accompany you, CaptainCarter.

After they left, Jack and Daniel resumed eating. Daniel brought his team leader up to speed about the upcoming mission, as Jack fiddled with his spoon, dipping it into the bowl of Fruit loops. He carefully pushed each little ring under the milk, then watched it bob back to the surface as it was released. Daniel smiled in amusement before turning back to his own breakfast.

"Uh… Daniel?"

The archeologist looked up, his expression open and curious.

"About… all that…" Jack waved his hand vaguely, "…_stuff_."

"Meaning of life stuff, or just stuff in general?"

"In general." Jack looked down uncomfortably for a moment. "I wanted to say, that I…you know…" Jack drew the words out just a bit. Daniel nodded as if he understood anyway, as if it was perfectly obvious. "…and I didn't understand what I was doing, but I do remember feeling pretty confused…well more confused than normal, but I know you kept trying, so…" Jack seemed unable or unwilling to continue and Daniel seemed content to leave it at that.

Daniel stood up slowly. Jack stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. For a moment, their eyes locked. Jack looked up at him until Daniel finally nodded, a slight smile on his lips as he cocked his head in the direction of the door. Jack gave him a grin and moved to follow, falling into step with his friend as they both headed toward the briefing room.

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So, it was another day and another mission, Jack thought to himself as they walked down the corridor. Last week's adventure / disaster was over and it was time to move forward. Jack couldn't help but smile at his friend as he thought of their "non-conversation" in the commissary. For a linguist, Daniel didn't seem to require words to communicate. Jack was grateful for that silent understanding.

While he had been slowly losing his mind to the Ancient knowledge that was taking over his brain, he had known that Daniel was there, trying to help. Even when he lost the ability to speak anything but the alien language, Daniel still managed to understand. Half of the time they seemed to communicate more by a simple shrug of the shoulders or a confused glance than by all the words in Daniel's Latin dictionary.

And of course, it was Daniel who understood that Jack needed to go through the Stargate, and that he needed to go alone. Jack hadn't understood the words Daniel spoke to him on the gate ramp, just before he left. But he had understood the meaning. _You might not be able to come back_, Daniel had said. But the statement contained other messages as well: good-bye, good luck, we won't give up on you. Those were messages that Jack could understand without words.

"Oh, and Jack?" Daniel said, looking at his friend expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"You're welcome."

Jack smiled again. Message definitely sent and received.


End file.
